There hasn't been much news to report lately- nesting season is humming along and slowly winding down. Dead juvenile WEGUs have been showing up here and there but outside of a few scattered reports of peregrine falcon sightings, there hasn't been much to report.

We've all been biding our time, waiting for the late autumn wave of migrating raptors that might return our departed femme falcon to Alcatraz. She spent the winter of 2009/2010 with us and we want her back:

She tore flesh from flesh on the top of tall buildings and we dearly miss her. Sadly, the falcon sighted recently isn't her, but we were happy to finally get a glimpse of it ourselves:

While it appears to be a female, it isn't our female. It's definitely a juvenile, having emerged from the egg as a tiny ball of falcon fluff earlier this summer. I tried in vain to see if we could find a band on her but she was so far away that I couldn't quite manage it.

When falcons fledge, quite naturally they leave their parents' territory and begin to explore the world around them. I'd imagine that every year Alcatraz is visited by a few juveniles recently fledged by the breeding pairs in San Francisco and the bay.